forA/n- Hopefully this was a quick enough update for everyone. I'm in a decently good writing mood, so I thought I'd start getting through this stuff. You see, I'm a very impatient writer, I like getting to the good stuff. If I had my way, I'd skip the beginning and get right to the romance-y part. But I like writing the mean stuff too actually.
Reviews are always good :
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Chapter 3- A Day of Firsts
"Yeah, his room is right there Ronald."
"-Annoying you, of course?"
"Being a dick, like always."
This was the only part of the conversation Draco had managed to pick up from walking to Potions behind Potty, Mudblood and Weasel. He had noticed, of course, the hand holding of Weasley and Granger. This obviously complicated his plot. He hadn't counted on the bookworm having a romantic attraction to anybody.
He had already decided to abort step one of the plan, at least for the next week or so, while they both settled in. He didn't need the mudblood running to her friends every time he tried making his move, especially this early in phase one.
He entered the Potions room and took his normal seat in the back of the class next to Pansy and set up his cauldron. He read the directions on the board, heated up his flame, and began chopping and mixing ingredients. Pansy was flirting with him the whole time.
Finally, once her hand had resumed its normal position on his leg, he rounded on her. "Don't you and Blaise have a thing? Or is it you and Crabbe or Goyle now?"
Half the class was watching. Weasley was staring intently at them and whispering in Harry's ear. Hermione was ignoring the situation and was continuing to work on grinding up her dragon claw.
Pansy was taken aback a little. "Oh, Blaise and I are just a little fling." She giggled nervously.
"Well, I'm not going to be your little fling either. Maybe talk to after you're done sleeping with half the school." And with that, he picked up his cauldron and moved up a table next to Todd. He knew the change of heat on the flame would mess up his potion all together, so he just packed up and waited for class to end. Snape either didn't notice or didn't particularly care.
At the end of the class, Snape collected samples of everyone's potions for grading. "Draco. To my desk please."
Draco walked up the rows through the commotion of cleaning up and stopped at his professor's desk. "Yes sir?" he asked politely.
"I'll expect a potion sample from you tomorrow. You can come by tonight at 7 to complete this assignment. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir. I'll be here at seven o' clock sharp sir."
"Precisely. You may go." At that moment, the bell rang, and Draco rushed back to grab his bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he headed towards Charms, again behind the Golden Trio.
He followed them all the way to the Charms classroom, where Harry walked in, but Hermione and Ron stopped for a moment outside.
"Bye 'Mione. See you at lunch, alright?" he said quietly, leaning down to just barely brush his lips against hers. Hermione blushed but said goodbye and headed into the classroom.
"Hey Granger, hold up," Draco called, loud enough for Ron's retreating figure to hear. Ron stopped to watch Hermione and Draco's conversation.
"Yes, Malfoy?" she asked politely. "We are going to be late for class."
"I assure you this will quick. What time do you want to get together to do those time tables? I need to visit Snape at 7 to make up my potion."
"When you get back I suppose. When will that be?"
"Around 7:45 I'd expect. I'm sure you and Weasley here have a little catching up to do, don't you think? Just don't catch up in my bed, alright?" he said sarcastically, cackling on his way into class. Hermione huffed behind him and branched off to her seat next to Harry on the opposite side of the room as Draco.
Draco spent a very uneventful morning. After his confrontation with both Pansy and Hermione, he was left to doodle on scraps of parchment during the rest of his morning classes, all of which Hermione were in. It seemed Granger and Potter had signed up for all the same classes as him.
At lunch, Draco ate with Todd Nott instead of Blaise, who seemed to have heard about Draco and Pansy's argument and wasn't speaking to either of them. He was eating alone, while Pansy was chatting with her girlfriends at the other end of the table.
After a quick lunch, Draco headed back to his common room. He had a free afternoon until 4, where he would be having class with Professor McGonagle for Transfiguration for an hour. Until then, he planned on doing some of his Charms homework for the night. He knew he would have barely any time later to complete it, with dinner, Snape's detention and planning with Granger.
He set his bag down next to the couch and collapsed onto it. He used his wand to blaze up the fire in the grate, as it was already very drafty in the school. He pulled out his charms book, a quill, parchment, and ink. He began drafting an essay about simple blocking jinxes and hexes.
He was around halfway through his essay when Hermione and Ron Weasley walked in, Harry trailing behind them. They were all laughing obnoxiously at some joke Ron had told. When they spotted Draco, they all stopped laughing and pulled faces.
"Go upstairs and do your homework, we're going to be down here," Ron commanded. Draco laughed but didn't move. He added a few more sentences to his essay before placing it down on the table and looking at them.
"No," he replied simply. "You can have your threesome upstairs, thanks. This couch is quite nice and I do not feel like getting up." He began digging in his backpack for his sketchpad. He grabbed it along with his box of charcoals.
Draco shifted in his spot, still ignoring the three chatting teens, and aimed his view towards the fire. He began to sketch the outline and eventually the entire scene. Fifteen minutes later, he placed it on the table and yawned, stretching.
He packed up his Charms homework and started to flip his sketchbook closed, when Hermione's words caught him.
"You're talented you know. At drawing, I mean." She didn't say anything else, but instead stared at his drawing.
"Oh, thanks." He didn't really know what else to say. He packed away the book, his quill, ink, essay and finally his charcoals. Hermione was still in awe apparently, since she hadn't moved. Harry and Ron had gone off to explore her room and the bathroom.
"No, you really have talent. Where did you learn to draw like that?" she pressed.
"I don't know, I just started when I was little," he replied dryly, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, heading towards the door.
"Did you take lessons or…?" she went on.
"Listen, I just like to draw once and awhile, ok? Drop it." She looked taken aback. "See you in class," he added before leaving the common room.
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"Alright Draco. You're all set. You can go now," Snape finalized, putting a "A" down on the paper for Draco. He had completed his potion relatively quickly and still managed to scrape a good grade.
"Thanks Professor. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Draco headed out of the door. The castle was relatively quiet on his journey back to his common room. He hummed lightly to himself as he strutted up the stairs and let himself into his room. Hermione was resting on the couch.
Draco dropped his bag on the ground and chose an armchair and relaxed into it. He pulled out his headphones and put them on, blasting music into his ears as he started to complete his Charms essay.
After Charms he moved onto Transfiguration, finishing around 9. He and Hermione didn't speak once the whole night, but once they both finished, they began to work.
Draco brought out a roll of parchment and began sketching out an actual table design, while Hermione began figuring out the hours. They barely talked except for the occasional schedule question. After three hours, they had completed the tables for the year.
"Thank god. I'm wiped out," Hermione said, lying back on the couch.
"Mmm," Draco replied as he screwed on the cap to his ink bottle. He just left his books laying all over the floor, chair and table, and got up to go to his bed.
"Malfoy?" Draco sighed and looked over to the couch.
"Yes Granger?"
"I don't think I can move. Help me up."
"Are you delusional? I'm not touching you."
"You did last night."
"That was perfectly accidental Granger. I'm sure you know that."
"Right. Well just stop being an arse and help me up. I'm awfully tired."
"Oh, whatever." He walked over, grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up using brute strength. They stood awkwardly for a long moment, which seemed like hours, with Draco's hands resting on her waist. Finally, Hermione shook off the shock and backed up.
"Well, thanks. I'll just be going to bed then. Night," she said simply, and stepped up the staircase. He heard her door open and then close before he headed up for the night.
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After hours of tossing and turning in his bed, Draco finally gave up hope and rolled out of bed at 5:34 a.m. He jumped into the shower, waking himself up, and dragged his body down the stairs.
He was dressed is simple bottle green robes and sneakers; his hair was shaggy and long, down to his chin almost. He kept it in a choppy style, which was really working for him today. He pinned his Head Boy badge to the front of his robes.
Settling himself back into his armchair, he relit the smoldering flames from the previous night and gathered his books and materials. He stuffed them into his backpack and leaned it against the table. He then relaxed in his chair.
He had purposely left out his sketchbook and charcoals, and again began to draw. This time, he drew a quidditch scene from his imagination. By the end of the sketch, an hour later, it was very detailed.
The picture was mainly of him, in billowing seeker robes, with his hand outstretched about to clasp the snitch in his palm; Harry was swerving behind him, trying to beat him out of the race. Behind them, you could see the Quaffle being tackled out of the Gryffindors clutches by a Slytherin chaser. There was also quite a large crowd off in the distance, and the sky was a clear blue, with basically no wind.
At that moment, he heard the shower burst into life above him. Hermione was obviously taking a shower. He flipped the page and began to sketch out something else. By the time he was done, Hermione was heading down the stairs, yawning.
Draco looked down at his drawing. Without realizing it, he had drawn what looked to be Hermione, kneeling on the ground and writing on a table, just as she had been last night. Draco was a bit embarrassed that he had drawn this unexpectedly. Of course, it could be any other girl. Sure, sure, this drawing didn't look that much like her. It could be anyone at all.
"What'd you draw now?" Hermione asked. Draco quickly shut the book and stuffed it into his bag.
"Nothing," he said quietly, zipping up the bag before she got ideas of snatching it. "None of your business, is it Granger?"
"You know, we're going to be living together for 9 months. The least you could do is be civil. And maybe we should use first names," she snapped at him, and he smirked.
"Alright then, Hermione," he replied. Hermione was going to easily fall right into his trap. "But your weasel boyfriend is going to throw a fit if you call me Draco."
Hermione laughed and began to pack up her things as well. "Well, don't let him hear you then," she answered, flashing him a smile. She paused thoughtfully, and then said, "So what were you drawing?"
Draco paused, and then grabbed his book, flipping to his quidditch scene. "Just something that hit my head this morning. I couldn't sleep."
Hermione stared for a moment, then looked away to continue packing up her parchment. She was rolling a long essay up into a tight scroll. She stuffed it into her backpack along with her Charms book and Transfiguration questions.
"Yeah, I heard you take a shower this morning. What was up?" she paused, and then said, "Are you alright Draco?"
Draco looked at her, then, looking away, shook his head. "I'm fine. Just couldn't sleep I guess."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Hermione went to answer it, and Ron and Harry stepped into the room. Draco sighed, grabbed his bag and walked by them, out of the door. He caught Hermione's reassuring smile on the way out.
Walking down to breakfast, Draco couldn't help but smirk to himself. Second day back, and already the plan was in motion. It seemed that this was going to go more smoothly than Draco had originally projected. Something was, unfortunately, nagging at him in the back of his head and the pit of stomach; a feeling he couldn't place.
He shrugged it off; he surely wasn't feeling guilty or anything. No, he decided, that wasn't true. He was just hungry. And tired. Yes, that was it. He hadn't slept, that was all. And, as if to confirm his assumption, his stomach growled anxiously. Draco smiled to himself.
Upon entering the Great Hall, he realized he was more than just part of the early crowd. He had never been this early to any meal before. Dumbledore himself was still eating, chatting eagerly to a very grumpy looking Professor Snape, who had bags under his eyes. He did not look very happy to be awake at this hour. Draco caught his eye before taking a seat at the Slytherin table and piling his plate with eggs, bacon and toast.
After taking a long draught of pumpkin juice, he settled himself in and dug into his pile of eggs. Between bites he managed to take gigantic swigs of juice and small bites of bacon or toast, depending on which he craved. By the time Pansy and Blaise arrived, holding hands, Draco had finished his first plate and had moved into a second helping of eggs. He was on his third goblet of pumpkin juice.
At the end of breakfast, he got up with Todd Nott and headed towards Herbology. Walking down the green sloping lawns to the greenhouses, they chatted eagerly about the coming quidditch season. Behind him, he heard a shout of laughter. He turned around to see Harry Potter laughing next to Ron.
"You think you have a shot at the cup? Get a life mate, Gryffindor always wins," Harry said confidently. Ron was shaking his head in agreement.
"Whatever. Hi Hermione," he greeted, flashing her the rare Draco Malfoy smile, and then turned back around and headed into greenhouse three, where Professor Sprout was leading them into. Hermione caught up and flashed him a look, greeting him nonetheless. She then slowed down to catch back up with Ron.
Professor Sprout had them line up in the back of the greenhouse and counted them off, pairing them off. Nott ended up with Ron, which was an unfortunate case for him, but Draco laughed. For a moment, Draco thought he would end up with Potter, but Pansy ended up with him. Draco got paired with Hermione, which he didn't complain about.
"Hello Hermione. I guess we'll be working together. How pleasant, like I don't see you enough," he said sarcastically, and she gave him a dirty look.
"Don't get too excited Draco, we all know what happens when boys get excited," she retorted evilly.
"And what would you know about that, Hermione?" he shot back, and Hermione looked away, blushing. She muttered something and began working. Draco stared at her.
"What?" she asked angrily, shoving the plant into the pot a bit more viciously than necessary. Draco looked taken aback and muttered an apology before helping her.
Draco happened to reach for the trowel just as Hermione did, and their hands touched for a split second before Hermione pulled back. "Sorry," she said, laughing nervously. Draco picked up the trowel to fix the plant.
Draco placed it back, reaching back to the plant with his gloved hands, and he and Hermione went to straighten the same root at the same time. Their hands landed together once again. This time, Hermione froze and looked into Draco's eyes, and he looked back.
"Oops," Draco said softly. "Again," he said, laughing nervously this time. He backed his hand away again. He could have sworn he saw Hermione reach for his hand while he moved away, but when he blinked she was already back to working with their plant.
The rest of the class flew by. Draco awaited the end anxiously, so he could get away from Hermione. Things were now getting awkward. Draco didn't like the feeling he got around Hermione anymore. This definitely wasn't good. He was starting to feel guilty for the dare.
At the end of class, Draco was the first to leave. He rushed out of the door and into the cold. He wrapped his robes around him tightly and battled against the wind as he made his way up to the castle.
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It was six o' clock and Draco was already done his homework. He wished to stretch his legs. Looking out of the window, he realized there was easily another hour of light left. He jogged up the moldy stairs and grabbed his broom out of the case on the wall and ran back downstairs.
Opening the door, he came face to face with Hermione. Within seconds, they were more than face to face. They were lip to lip. Hermione had smashed right into him, and Draco, who had been leaning down slightly, had made contact with her lips.
For a moment, they both were confused. After an awkward five second kiss, Draco pulled away. They both gave each other a weird look, and Draco brushed past her and practically ran out of the door and down the stairs to the entry hall. He flew out of the doors and immediately got on his broom.
He flew around the castle for what seemed like hours. It was certainly a long time, as it was dark out and the sky was littered with stars by the time he landed and headed inside. He was beyond freezing by now. He had been wearing just robes and it had been windy all day long.
He headed into straight into the Great Hall, sitting at the Slytherin table with barely anyone left. It was already 8 o clock at least, and dinner was finishing up. He swallowed down some chicken and vegetables quickly before heading up to take a shower.
Upon entering the room, he noticed it was oddly quiet. He realized Hermione wasn't inside the common room or in the bathroom. He opened her door slowly and noticed she was lying on her bed, facing the opposite direction, reading a book.
Draco tried to slowly edge the door closed, but Hermione apparently had heard him because she whipped around to look at him. She gave him the nastiest look and then put the book down and looked like she was getting ready to shout. She got up and pulled the door open.
For a moment Draco thought she was going to kiss him again, but he was wrong. She just looked at him, and then quietly said, "Maybe we should talk."
Draco looked at her weirdly then replied, "About?" Hermione gave him an annoyed look.
"Maybe about what happened earlier?"
"Oh, how you attacked me with your lips?"
"I did not attack you. You ran into me."
"I did not. I clearly opened the door. You were not paying attention to where you were going Granger."
"Oh, so were back to last names, huh? Fine then, Malfoy, it was both of our faults. Needless to say-"
"You enjoyed it."
"No I did not. I was going to say-"
"Don't deny that you want me."
"I do not want any such thing. You are ridiculous and over cocky."
"You'd be cocky too if you had what I have in my p-"
"Stop it. That wasn't a reference to anything dirty."
"Whatever you say Hermione. You know you'd love to know if the rumors about me are true."
"Rumors? I don't know of any rumors regarding you that I could possibly want to find out about."
"Oh yes, rumors. It seems that I can do things in bed very well, other than sleeping."
"Well, hopefully. You don't seem to sleep very well, do you Draco?"
"Very funny."
"Exactly. So, I hope you will forget about that…kiss, or whatever it was. Obviously, it doesn't leave this room."
"So you aren't telling ickle Ronnikins?"
"Of course not, why would I?" she replied snappily.
"Well, you cheated on him."
"It was accidental. It doesn't count. Besides, he'd make me move out of here or something. He'd overreact. It obviously didn't mean anything."
"I suppose you're right. Well, I'm off to take a shower." And with that, he walked out of the door. Hermione slammed it behind him.
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A/n- Yay! Hermione/Draco action unfolding! Do you guys think the plot is moving too quickly or not quickle enough? Let me know.
Reviews!!!!
Krista.